NailPolishFavs.
I know I’ve shown most of these colors on my nail tutorials, but I still wanted to share part of my nail polish collection. You would think that I have like hundreds of nail polishes since I did nails for so long, but I don’t. I have about fifty something. When I was doing nails, I didn’t need to buy all the colors because I had access to them at the shop. ^^
These are the favorites that I have. The coloring is a tiny bit off because my camera is a bit color blind. Click the pictures to enlarge and to get a better look. The color also change because of the downsizing.
I haven’t gotten any of the new collections because I’m broke and I’m in beauty school. But I have enough to mix to create a new colors.
My Favorite Nail Polishes: Left to Right.

Orly in Lola
Essie in Wife Goes On

Essie in Whisper & Cute As A Button [love both of these for summer]

Essie in Ballet Slipper [big favorite for my toes] & Adore-A-Ball

Essie in Chastity & Sexy Divide [big favorite]

OPI in Black Cherry Chutney [big favorite]
China Glaze in Stella

Essie in Midnight Cami [big favorite but a pain to get off, it's like pen ink blue]
Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Black Diamond [big favorite]

China Glaze in Beauty and the Beach [great color for designs and putting over top of another polish]
Essie in Sheltered Island [big favorite]
China Glaze in Sky High-Top
China Glaze in Bermuda Breakaway [big favorite]

Essie in Solemate
Rimmel London 60 Seconds in Climax

China Glaze in For Audrey
Orly in Green Apple
Essie in Greenport
OPI in Gargantuan Green Grape

Sally Hansen Salon in Shooting Star [great for designs]
Sally Hansen Salon in Glity Pleasure [great for designs]
Orly in Shock
OPI in Banana Bandana
Other favorites not shown..meaning I don’t have….yet. >:]
Essie:
Marshmallow semi-sheer white [favorite for my toes]
Waltz sheer white [my favorite color to wear over a french tip]
Forget Me Nots it’s like Chastity, but deeper
Minimalistic sheer lilac white
Limo-scene sheer pinkish white [great for over the french]
Sugar Daddy sheer pink [other fav to wear with the french tip]
Wicked deep burgundy red [winter favorite]
Fiji opaque whitish pink [popular summer color, also the color my parents made me practice polishing with when I was like 15]
OPI:
Russian Navy deep blue with purple shimmer
Yoga-ta Get this Blue dark blue with blue/teal shimmer [big favorite]
Windy City lilac-ish mauve with pinkie shimmer [big favorite, looks great when you wear greens]
Mod-ern Girl semi-sheer Coral
Sweet Heart it’s like Essie’s Ballet Slipper
Pinking of You semi-sheer pinkie pink
Fiji Weejee Fawn shimmery beige [I started wearing this color obsessively when I was 15. I was too scared to wear color then. Lol. Pretty funny because now I'm all about color. Should younger kids be more adventurous with color? Not me. I'm backwards.]
I’ve Got The Blues For Red deep blue-red
Malaga Wine deep burgundy
Siberian Nights very deep bluish-purple [my absolute favorite purple, it might as well be black..its so dark. But when it hits the light, it's sooo pretty. I don't know why I don't have it. Lol]
Those are pretty much my favorites for now. ^^
The thing I really loved about doing nails was having access to so many colors and seeing the new collections. Our [friends I worked with] faces would light up like a kid in a candy store when our boss bought the new collections for whatever season. I really, really want Essie in Mint Candy Apple. I am jealous of yous that have it! I love that kind of green. My fav. I also want Essie Matte About You topcoat. I love the Matte look.

After putting and taking off of polish for this post, I ended up with this one.
Essie in Au Natural.
On the toes: Essie in Whisper.
I think I’m taking a tiny break from color on my fingernails. I blued and purpled myself out. Lol.
MakeupFavorites.
I cannot tell you how much I love makeup. I think I spend more money on makeup than I did with clothes, shoes, and accessories. To me, there’s no such thing as too many lipglosses or too many mascaras. Those words put together do not exist in my brain & heart.
So where do I go to buy my makeup? I like to shop at Sephora, Ulta, MAC, and Target.
Did you know that Estee Lauder owns big brands like Clinique, Presciptives, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics, La Mer, Lab Series, and Bumble & Bumble? Pretty cool, huh?
L’Oreal owns brands like Lancome, Shu Uemura, Maybelline New York, Dermablend, Giorgio Armani fragrances & cosmetics, L’Oreal Paris, Keratase, Matrix, and Pureology.
Makes you wonder…is Maybelline’s quality pretty much L’Oreal Paris’s quality? Is Lancome’s quality pretty much L’Oreal Paris’s quality only better packaging and higher prices? I think there is a difference. The big difference is the price and packaging, but I’m sure the quality is different too. The companies probably just spend more time on making the perfect product with the higher priced brands than they do with the cheaper brands [especially skincare products]. They make the cheaper brand because more people can afford it. The cheaper one still being a great and effective product, but maybe not as great and effective as the more expensive one. Maybe the expiration date between the two are different?
Like buying a purse from Payless versus buying a purse from Coach [I just chose these two brands for the heck of it] . Both work just the same way…carrying your stuff. But the Coach bag will outlast the Payless bag because the quality of the materials and stitching put into it. So you end up buying Payless purse after Payless purse because it doesn’t last as long. Next thing you know, you just paid as much as you did for the Payless purseS as for one Coach bag. Should you have bought the Coach bag in the first place? Maybe. Maybe not.
Another example: Volkswagen owns Audi. Are Audi cars just the same as VWs because Vw owns them, or is Audi a more luxury brand within a brand?
Guess it all depends on how you would look at it.
For me? As long as the color and formula works fine, I’m happy.
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My CURRENT Favorites:
Foundation »
Bare Escentuals bareMineral Foundation SPF15 in Medium Tan
Concealer »
benefit ERASE paste in Medium
Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Medium Beige
Pencil Eyeliner »
L’Oreal Paris HiP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Black Shock
Rimmel London Soft Kajal Eyeliner Pencil in Pure White
MakeUpForEver Aqua Eyes in Purple 11L & Gold 9L
benefit Eye Bright [used more like a concealer, but I like it as an eyeliner too]
Liquid/Cream/Gel Eyeliner »
Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eye Pen in Blackest Black
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Blush »
MAC Powder Blush in Mocha
Jemma Kidd Stain, Flush, Blush Concentrate in Masquerade
Mascara »
Maybelline New York Pulse Perfection Waterproof in Black [lasting curl]
CoverGirl lashBlast Waterproof in Very Black [great volume and lasting curl
benefit BADgal Lash in Rich Black [great volume]
benefit BADgal Blue [great volume & great for brightening the eye]
I have very Asian lashes…fine & naturally lies straight, facing towards the ground. The two waterproof mascaras kept my lashes the way that I curled them all day. I curl ‘em with Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler.
Eyebrow Filler »
Anastasia Brow Ex-press in Brunette
Eyeshadow »
bareMinerals Liner Shadow in Humor
all eight shadows from the Too Faced Glamour To Go 2 palette
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in YDK, Twice Baked, Half Baked, Grifter, and Oil Slick
Lipliner »
Rimmel London, 1000 Kisses Lipliner in Natural.
Lipgloss »
stila lipglaze in Cranberry, Starfruit, Kitten, Raspberry, and Plum Fairy
Lancome JuicyTubes in Dreamsicle
NYX Lipgloss in Beige, Natural, La La, and Perfect
DiorKiss Luscious Lip-Plumping Gloss in Berry Smoothie
Lipstick »
Maybelline New York Color Sensation Lipcolor in Mauve-ulous
Maybelline New York Moisture Extreme Lipcolor in Roseberry & Nude Blush
Brushes »
MAC 209, 275, and 217
Artistry Eyeliner/brow [angled brush]
Sephora Professionnel Platinum #12, 17, and 11
Sephora Professionnel #21
I would list my favorite nail polishes, but I think it deserves its own post. ^^ Too many too name.
Along with being a makeup junkie, I am also a nail polish junkie.
Again?
Got my blog back up again. I guess it’s pretty common for those who have Wordpress to have the same problem as I did. It just kept saying, “Error establishing database connection,” everytime I tried to log on. Got it fixed. ^^
Hopefully, it will stay up this time! Lol. I think I sorta jinxed myself last time.
HomeAgain.
My blog was down for a while. The reason for that is still a mystery. Doesn’t matter really. I’m just happy it’s back up!
I missed you, blog. Big hug. ^^
I never thought I would miss it. It felt like it’s been down for months, when really just for a few days. I guess it being down made me realize how much I really do enjoy blogging. :] I felt a little empty without it. I only have a few readers, but those few readers have been missing out! Okay, not really, but I do have a couple of things to share that I will post later in more detail.
I just got done studying for 2-3 hours about hair structure, growth, composition, and scalp diseases [gross] for a test tomorrow. I’m really tired, but I thought I should at least let you that I’m still here. Lol.
So what have I been up to since my baby [blog] has been M.I.A? I did a few makeup tutorials [and a lot more I want to do], recorded myself singing a snippet of Corinne Bailey Rae [ughh], playing with semi-permanent individual lashes [a-pain-in-the-ass], enjoying the nice weather [oh yes...sunshine], saw a movie at the theatre [The Book of Eli], and school [perminator]. So…more blog posts on those topics later.
I’m excited for class tomorrow. Half of my classmates graduated from Phase One to Phase Two [they're working on the floor now on real people], so its time for the new wave for students to join Phase Oners. Hopefully none of them are bitches.
y a w n.
Time for bed. I hope my blog doesn’t go done again.
Knock on wood.
Random01
I have a lot of random thoughts running through my head that I want to share with everyone. Lol. Everyone has random thoughts. I like hearing about other people’s too. Keeps things interesting. So I’m going to start naming my random posts. :]
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I wanted to share my progress in beauty school. I did this yesterday. As you can see, I did a perm and blow dry style for the first time [first picture]. I didn’t know how I wanted to style the perm, so I just pin that ish up. Haha. It was a mess. The blowout, I just teased her a bit. The second picture is just me watching my girl. =P
There’s a hair show this weekend. I really want to go just to see the makeup & nail sections and what products that have there. Maybe I’ll go. Or I could take advantage of the time off of school to sleep. There will be another hair show in the summer.
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I just ate some garlic cheese pizza from a box. California Pizza Kitchen, frozen food section. It was okay. Fresh from the restaurant is way better. I’ve only lived in Michigan and now, Florida, so I haven’t been to the ultimate pizza place. I used to like Dominos, until they changed their recipe. Yuck. The sauce is all wrong now. I loved it before. Now, I hate it. Anywhoo…thought I share my favorite toppings.
01. I love margherrita pizza/flatbread. Mozzarella. Tomatoes. Basil Leaves. I like it from Crust & Brio.
02. BLT pizza. Bacon. Lettuce tossed in mayo. Tomatoes. Honey-wheat bread. I love this pizza. Obviously, this one is from CPK.
03. Cheese pizza. The more different kinds of cheeses, the better. :}
04. Pepperoni & Sausage pizza. I can’t eat this that much anymore because I get major heartburn now from eating so much spicy & acidic foods my whole life. I love when pepperoni is a little on the burnt side. Yummy.
05. Veggie pizza. Mushrooms. Tomatoes. Ripe black olives. Onion. Green peppers. Deep dish. I like this from Hungry Howies.
06. For frozen food pizza, I like Tombstone Deep Dish Individual Pizzas. Cheese Pizza. Pepperoni Pizza. Only one I like that is store bought.
Other favorite pizza places I like is Pizza Papalis & UNO’s. Those places are dangerous.
I don’t eat pizza a lot. It’s something I can get sick of really fast.
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I really really miss my long hair. I don’t think I will cut it drastically again. Lol. Boo-hoo. I wish I could tug on the shaft of my hair and pull the growth out. I want my hair to be really long again. Maybe a little past mid-back. Then I want a lot of layers in it. Maybe I’ll keep my bangs, but on the long side.
I always wanted to go blonde (a shade that isn’t bad again my tan-olive skin). Maybe even a light brown. But it’s hard to lift my hair. Especially when I’ve dyed it pitch black over and over again. Permanent hair color over permanent hair color. I never did root touch ups, just applying boxed hair color all-over each time, which I learned today in school is a big no, no. We should only permanent our hair on natural/virgin hair once, and semi-permanent on already dyed hair. So yeah, I think I’m going to do a light brown once my hair is grown out.
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I have so many things I want to blog about and so many makeup tutorial videos I want to do.
I want to make videos of myself singing too, but I really hate the way that my teeth look when my mouth is moving [that's why I'm not talking in any of my makeup videos]. I feel like I’m not that bad looking, but my teeth makes me ugly. I really have crooked teeth. If you haven’t notice, I think you will now. You can really see the crookedness from my side. I recorded myself singing a snippet of “Trouble Sleeping” by Corinne Bailey Rae. Haven’t uploaded it to YouTube. Too scared. I know how mean people can be when it comes to people’s teeth. No one is perfect! I’m broke and jobless, therefore, I have crooked teeth. And when I did have money, I chose instant gratification over getting braces [makeup, food, shoe shopping]. Stupid me. I could have had straight teeth by now!
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My heater is broken. Not sure what it is. It’s been really chilly here in Florida in the evening, night, and early morning. I’m still thankful that I don’t have to deal with snow [heard that Michigan got 8 inches], but damn…it is cold here. Weird. Isn’t Florida suppose to be one the warm side, even during winter months?
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I really like my instructors at school. Mr. Wade and Ms. Aimee. They’re both very helpful, cool, funny, and up-to-date. I’m happy that I go to Cozmo for beauty school. I don’t see myself doing hair, but I love to learn. I will know how know to do my own hair a little better now. I’m more interesting in learning about the skin and more about nails.
I like the atmosphere there too. Everyone is pretty helpful with each other. I would say we all act as a team.
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I’m not a huge fan of cakes. Too much cake. I know, I know. I could slice up the portion that I want. I rather have a cupcake, to skip the slicing part. Plus, I think cupcakes are cuter. I love cupcakes. I used to make them a lot, like twice a month. Crazy. I would usually make the boxed cupcakes so I could spend more time decorating. My favorites: Red Velvet w/ Vanilla frosting/buttercream [it's usually paired with Cream Cheese Frosting, but I'm not a huge fan of it]. Chocolate w/ Vanilla frosting or buttercream. Classic Yellow w/ Chocolate Frosting. I don’t make them that much anymore. I don’t even remember when was the last time.
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I like watching infomercials. Right now, I’m watching one about cooking knives. Lol. I never bought from one, but it has convinced me once to go out and buy it. I love makeup infomercials. Because of infomercials, I discovered the Bare Escentuals brand. I got mine at Sephora though. Love that brand.
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I’m tired. Good night.
ColorMyEyes.
Dramatic color winged eyeliner» I love this look. Especially with navy or plum. Using black cream/gel to draw the wings first kind of mutes whatever color shadow you choose to set it with. Try using a different color cream/gel to give you a more vibrant look.
HappyBirthday.
I know, I’m late on posting an entry about my birthday. Happy Belated Birthday to myself! Lol. I turned 25 on January 7th. It’s a weird & scary feeling. I know I’m not old, but heading there seems to feel faster. This year’s birthday was bittersweet. Bitter: I’m away from home, home [grew up in Michigan, just moved to Florida in November], so I’m away from friends and family. Sweet: I still have other real special people here in Florida with me to spend it with.
Things I got for the somewhat big day:
Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch. I was shocked! I always wanted my own.
I tested out for the past two days. Love it! It’s real easy to control and navigate on the screen. The touch part of the tablet is pretty cool. For MACbooks, you can’t double tap on the control pad to open a link. With the Bamboo, you can while it’s plugged it. It’s good to use when I’m lazy to unplug or need a quick reference.
My first drawing I made with it: click to enlarge.

I’m excited to use this tablet with my vector/vexel work.
Another gift I receive wasn’t necessary, but really appreciated!! Got the new Google/HTC phone, Nexus One. I love it! People call it the iPhone killer. I don’t think it’s a killer. I personally think the iPhone is still better, because of the App store, music, and zoom methods. But I do think this phone comes very close; it has other things to make up for it. I talk all about it from an average person’s point of view, so I’m not true on the specs. I just know and played with it enough to love it. Nexus One.
I had to go to school in the morning until daytime. I was running late. When I walked in, the whole class said HBirthday. =) People were shocked that I was turning 25, saying I look 20. ^^ One girl got me a cupcake with candles. A few girls sang for me during lunch break. I’ve only been in school for like two weeks. That was very, very sweet of her and the others to sing.
After school, went to see some more special people. Got some shirts from Urban Outfitters, Hoops & Yoyo birthday card [they make the best cards!], an ice cream cake and some awesome singing. ^^
Straight to the thighs. Ate at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummy. I had a Kobe Burger. Love this burger. Their description: American Kobe Beef with Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions on a Toasted Brioche Bun. Served with French Fries or Green Salad. My picture is of my food is messy. I had to cut it in quarters. I ordered mine medium-rare. I love burgers. For dessert, Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake. Uber yummy. (I had alot of sweets this day…lol)
Mmm…I could go for another Kobe burger right now. Even though is 4:30 am right now! :P
To top the night off, I got so many birthday greetings on Facebook and Mixpod. :) Cherries on the top. Thanks to the birthday notifier.
It was a wonderful day. Bittersweet.
I didn’t need anything. I truly am not a materialistic person. Gifts are real great and I’m very appreciative. But the true gifts are the people who celebrated it with me…the people who took the time out of their day to quickly say, type up, call, or text me “Happy Birthday”. Thank you everyone. Words cannot express. Blessed.
Much Love.








Hello, my name is Vana. An artsy fartsy-status updating-sexy beast. Lol. Scratch that last part. Thank you for visiting this blog; it's my baby. Created to simply share my passions and thoughts. ^-^